Rome (Italy). On 17 November 2023, the 3rd online meeting of the Researchers of the ISS-FMA, the academic network of researchers, took place with the aim of developing research in the Institutions of Higher Studies of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians (ISS-FMA) encouraging and articulating the network among the Institutions in the area of education and culture. There were 29 participants from 14 countries, representing 12 institutions.
The meeting was the third stage after the 1st meeting of 23 June 2023 and the 2nd meeting of 22 September, the process of organizing and coordinating researchers at the international level of the FMA Institute, with the aim of creating research groups with different themes such as: Citizenship, democracy, human rights, justice and peace; Digital education, IA, online environments, communication in education; Salesian education and education of educators; Mental health, neuroscience, psycho-pedagogy, emotional intelligence; Educational management, vocational training, educational environments.
The work began with a prayer prepared by Sister Ivone Goulart Lopes, collaborator of the Youth Ministry Sector and ISS-FMA representative, who retraced the steps. Sister Marcia Koffermann of O. L. Aparecida Province (BAP), then presented the results of the research conducted between the institutions and independent researchers of the whole FMA Institute, highlighting the common research elements identified and other possible points of dialogue between the institutions.
Subsequently, the Higher Education Institutions of Colombia presented a proposal for integrated work on the formation of educators. The node of Colombia, where 9 ISS are present, organized two research proposals. One on “Integral ecology in the formation of the Salesian teacher” and the second on “Teacher training: a look from the perspective of educational transformations “inviting the other ISS to join the research. The Salomé Ureña Higher Teacher Training Institute (Emilio Prud’Homme Campus), in Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic, presented several guidelines of research and its approach to integrated work.
Time was left for sharing and clarifying doubts about the process of alignment of higher education institutions, so that researchers feel motivated to invest in the internationalization of their research to achieve greater qualification, coverage, and visibility of their work.
Sister Ivone Goulart informed the participants about the continuity of the webinars Research Circles with the presentation of doctoral theses and the progress of the process of creating the ISS-FMA website, just begun.
The meeting concluded with a thought of Pope Francis addressed to Rectors, Teachers, Students, and staff of the Roman Pontifical Universities and Institutions, on 25 February 2023:
“You are women and men dedicated to study, some for a few years, others for life, with various backgrounds and skills. This is why I want to tell you first of all, with the words of the holy bishop and martyr Ignatius of Antioch: commit yourselves to ‘be a Choir. Be a Choir!’ The university, in fact, is the school of consonance and harmony between different voices and instruments. It is not the school of uniformity. No, it is the agreement and the consonance between different voices and instruments. Saint John Henry Newman describes it as the place where different knowledge and perspectives express themselves in harmony, complement each other, correct each other, balance each other”.
